East Wind Advisors and its affiliate East Wind Securities (together "East Wind") is an independent, industry-focused investment banking firm founded in 2002 to provide bulge-bracket quality advisory services to a broad client base ranging from large cap to middle market, emerging growth and venture stage companies and financial sponsors. Senior-level attention, seasoned judgment and relentless pursuit of our clients' objectives are hallmarks of our firm.

Our Principals have spent a significant portion of their careers working at firms such as Barclays Capital, Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Schroders and Skadden Arps. The level of service quality expected at these firms has been carried over to East Wind, and informs all that we do in the pursuit of our clients objectives.

Services

East Wind’s financial advisory services focus on assisting our clients in analyzing, preparing for and participating in value-enhancing transactions. We have a broad range of experience in handling Financings, M&A (buy-side and sell-side), Joint Ventures, Restructurings, Valuations, Fairness Opinions, and Strategic
Alliances.

Industry Focus

East Wind maintains coverage of the media, education and consumer sectors, and the bulk of our transactional activity occurs within these sectors. Thanks to this industry-focused approach, East Wind has a deep and current understanding of trends, opportunities, competitive dynamics, regulatory frameworks, business models and investor sentiment and appetite and valuations in these sectors, which enables us to navigate efficiently and productively. Our sustained presence in these areas also affords us with privileged access to decision-makers at most strategic, private equity and venture capital investors who are active in these sectors.

Experience, Judgment & Creativity

Our Principals have over 75 years of combined transactional experience at blue chip Wall Street firms and Fortune 500 media companies, where they were involved in hundreds of transactions. This experience, across a broad range of transaction types and sizes, provides a foundation for judgment and creativity that ensures our clients’ objectives are met and that all risks and rewards are properly understood, weighed and addressed.

Senior Level Attention

The nature of our Firm and the work that we do is such that our senior Principals have day-to-day responsibility for every client we undertake to work with. Our clients are afforded the quality of advice and service that is expected from leading banks, but are typically not available to
smaller companies or companies at an earlier stage of the corporate lifecycle. As our
senior Principals are involved in all aspects of our deals, they are able to address uniquely each situation and provide seasoned judgment and an appropriate response backed by years of experience.

Our Name

As we considered various names for our firm, we sought out a name that would somehow capture the essence of our profession and aspirations for the firm. We have always believed that Investment Banking is a craft and, when
properly conducted, the role of an investment banker on a transaction can and should meaningfully and favorably impact outcomes in tangible and intangible ways.

The east wind played an important role in the parting of the Red Sea, enabling the Israelites to cross into safety (Exodus 14:21). It was not simply the miraculous image of the sea parting that attracted us, but equally the notion that, when added to the mix, this critical element
- the east wind - provided the necessary ingredient to accomplish the historic result. East Wind sounded good....the LLC papers were filed.

We later learned that the east wind also has significance in Chinese history, or at least a fictionalized account of it. In the winter of 208, Cao Cao, a warlord who rose to power towards the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, led a large army in the Battle of Red Cliffs (also known as the Battle of Chibi) on the southern bank of the Yangtze River. The battle was fought against the allied armies of southern warlords, Sun Quan and Liu Bei. Outmanned, they planned to attack the warships of Cao Cao with fire. When all the preparations for the attack were completed, they remembered that the wind in winter always blew from the northwest, and would blow the fire back toward their own ships. So an east wind was needed for the attack. Zhuge Liang, the chief advisor of Liu Bei and the greatest and most accomplished strategist of his era, somehow was able to summon an east wind, and Cao Cao's ships were burnt to ashes. Thus, the east wind became a metaphor for that thing which is necessary, when all else is ready, to fulfill a crucial undertaking.

While we certainly cannot claim to split seas or set boats ablaze, we can point to a long track record of optimizing outcomes and enhancing results for our clients by
consistently applying all of the capabilities and characteristics outlined above.